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☆ Companies Tried to Spend Less on Cloud. Then AI Showed Up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Belle Lin | Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A manufacturing facility for commercial data servers used in cloud computing. Photo: Donna Carson/ReutersBusiness technology leaders are expecting their cloud spending to grow in 2024, an increase linked in part to the growth of new generative artificial intelligence services. “Our cloud usage is up, for example, driven by our use of generative AI in drug discovery,” said Diogo Rau , executive vice president, chief information and digital officer of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly . “The cloud is important for generative AI because it makes it possible to set up projects quickly and enables large, parallel computations to increase speed.”

Persons: Donna Carson, ”, Diogo Rau, Eli Lilly Organizations: Reuters Business

☆ Companies Look to Human Moderators to Keep AI Apps in Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Analysts say that content safety filters will soon become a requisite for enterprises to sign up for any generative AI-based tools vendors sell. Photo: dado ruvic/ReutersBusinesses weighing the risks and benefits of generative artificial intelligence are running up against a challenge social-media platforms have long wrestled with: preventing technology from being hijacked for malicious ends. Taking a page from those platforms, business technology leaders are turning to a mixture of software-based “guardrails” and human moderators to keep its use within prescribed bounds.

Persons: dado ruvic Organizations: Reuters

Robert McMillanRobert McMillan writes about computer security, hackers and privacy from The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau. Previously, he was a writer at Wired, the IDG News Service and Linux Magazine, where he covered cloud computing, business technology, bitcoin, artificial intelligence and open-source software. He was the host of Hack Me if You Can, a three-part podcast profile of the Russian hacker Dmitry Smilyanets, produced by the Journal.

Persons: Robert McMillan Robert McMillan, Dmitry Smilyanets Organizations: San, Wired, IDG News Service, Linux Magazine, Journal Locations: San Francisco

June 6 (Reuters) - Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) CEO Marc Benioff has shuffled the top management, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, a move that follows after the software company reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2010. Miguel Milano has been appointed as the chief revenue officer, the source said, adding that Ariel Kelman will take over as Salesforce's chief marketing officer. After a previous tenure of nearly a decade at Salesforce, Milano will make a return from his recent position at software company Celonis. Kendall Collins, who will step into the role of chief of staff for Benioff, had worked as CMO at Okta and Cisco's AppDynamics. Salesforce President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Millham would be assuming new duties such as marketing, employee success and business technology, the source said.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Miguel Milano, Ariel Kelman, Milano, Celonis, Kelman, Kendall Collins, Brian Millham, Salesforce, Benioff, Kanjyik Ghosh, Akriti Sharma, Anirudh, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: Salesforce, Reuters, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Inclusive, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Thomson Locations: Salesforce, Okta, Bengaluru

☆ Salesforce CEO shakes up top ranks, hints at succession plan - Insider
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Miguel Milano, who moved back from Celonis, has been appointed Salesforce's chief revenue officer, according to the Insider report, which added that Ariel Kelman, previously the chief marketing officer at Amazon Web Services (AMZN.O) and Oracle (ORCL.N), has been named the new CMO. President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Millham will be taking on a host of new responsibilities, including marketing, employee success and business technology, the memo said. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The company last month posted an 11% rise in its quarterly revenue, the slowest pace of growth in 13 years. Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Miguel Milano, Ariel Kelman, Brian Millham, Salesforce, Kanjyik Ghosh, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: Salesforce, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Inclusive, Thomson Locations: Celonis, Bengaluru

☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his fast-rising COO Brian Millham tell us where the software giant is headed after 'a difficult time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Julie Bort | Nicholas Carlson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The changes shifted more responsibility to President and COO Brian Millham. The changes shift more responsibility to president and COO Brian Millham, and go some way toward addressing investor concerns about succession -- should Benioff decide to pass the CEO reins in the future. Brian Millham: Closer to 70%. We're seeing many of our ex-employees want to come back to Salesforce, incredible boomerangs back to the company. Benioff: Well, I think Brian and my marriage is quite proven.

Persons: Benioff, Brian Millham, Millham, Nich Carlson, Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Brian, he's, it's, I'm, Marc, Carlson, Ariel Kelman, Miguel Milano, Kendall Collins, you've, I've Organizations: Morning, Insider's Locations: Salesforce's, Salesforce

☆ In an internal memo, Marc Benioff shakes up Salesforce's top ranks, and drops a subtle hint about the company's succession plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Nicholas Carlson | Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Miguel Milano becomes Salesforce's Chief Revenue Officer, moving from the same role at software company Celonis. Ariel Kelman, is the new Chief Marketing Officer of Salesforce. Benioff responded to the pressure by laying off thousands of employees and making other changes to increase the company's efficiency. Miguel Milano, our new Chief Revenue Officer: I'm excited to welcome back Miguel Milano to Salesforce as our Chief Revenue Officer. Ariel Kelman, our new Chief Marketing Officer:It's also incredible to welcome back Ariel Kelman as our new CMO!!!

Persons: Benioff, Marc Benioff, Miguel Milano, Milano, Ariel Kelman, Kendall Collins, Brian Millham, Salesforce, Millham, He's, Read, I'm, Brian, Brent, Juan, Miguel, It's, Ariel, Sarah Franklin, Sarah, she's, Sarah's, Congratulation Sarah, Alex Dayon, Alex, Alex !, Hui Hou Alex, Kendall, salesforce Organizations: Salesforce, Amazon, Oracle, Celonis, Amazon Web Services, Staff, Business Technology, Elliott Management, Human Resources, Global, Services, EMEA, APAC, AWS, Advisory, Board Locations: Okta, Salesforce, Celonis, AppDynamics

☆ SVB Collapse Could Trigger More Corporate M&A, Tech Leaders Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Silicon Valley Bank offered banking services to startups that often weren’t profitable and would otherwise have a hard time getting a line of credit or a loan. The increasing pressure on venture capital investing from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other macroeconomic factors could spur a pick up in technology-focused corporate M&A, according to business technology leaders. This could present both opportunities and challenges for chief information officers.

☆ Do not underestimate how important humans are, even as we automate, the chief technology officer of SAP says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Josée Rose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Automation, generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT and Bard, and machine learning are pushing business leaders like never before. They deployed this app, built on SAP Business Technology Platform, and said it saves 400,000 hours per year. Maybe it's a bike company: You're interested more in road bikes or fun bikes. You talked about providing and embedding AI and machine learning and giving customers ways to solve problems in a scalable, ethical way. When machine learning arrived, first that automates a lot of capabilities, but now you have completely new jobs.

☆ SAP introduces SAP Datasphere and partnerships with Collibra, Confluent, DataRobot, and Databricks to simplify customers' data landscape
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Sap With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

SAP announced SAP Datasphere, the next generation of its data management portfolio, which gives customers easy access to business-ready data across the data landscape. SAP DatasphereAvailable today, SAP Datasphere is the next generation of SAP Data Warehouse Cloud. With a unified experience for data integration, data cataloging, semantic modeling, data warehousing, data federation, and data virtualization, SAP Datasphere enables data professionals to easily distribute mission-critical business data — with business context and logic preserved — across their organization's data landscape. SAP Datasphere is built on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), which includes strong enterprise security capabilities such as database security, encryption, and governance. Databricks customers can integrate their Data Lakehouse with SAP so data can be shared with semantics preserved, helping customers simplify their data landscape.

☆ Enterprise Tech Firms Push Further Into Generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Generative AI, the technology underlying the viral ChatGPT chatbot, runs on algorithmic language models trained on vast amounts of online data. “We think 2023 will be the year that generative AI will become prevalent and a key component of modern office work,” he said. On Tuesday, the company launched a $250 million investing fund targeting generative AI startups. Yet despite assurances from the enterprise market’s biggest players, most corporate tech chiefs are taking a wait-and-see approach to ChatGPT-like generative AI technology, analysts said. Steve Santana, chief information officer at educational-testing company ETS, said he is more open to working with large enterprise-technology firms on generative AI capabilities, rather than small niche providers.

☆ Technology Chiefs Seek Help Wrangling Cloud Costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Some chief information officers have turned to cloud management tools and established internal teams to oversee their cloud spending. Mr. Nimboorkar said the company has since built a dedicated team to manage its Amazon Web Services spending and invested in a third-party cloud spending management tool. Executives from all three cloud giants have said customers are optimizing or reining in their cloud spending, citing economic factors. Many of the best practices in cloud spending management have been codified by the nonprofit FinOps Foundation, which promotes cloud financial literacy and accountability, she said. That model allows Mr. Kanchi to wholly manage cloud spending, he said, but was only possible after UST figured out how to tag cloud usage by its various business units.

☆ Instacart Joins ChatGPT Frenzy, Adding Chatbot To Grocery Shopping App
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Instacart’s new search tool, “Ask Instacart,” will tap data from more than 1.5 million products stocked by some 75,000 grocery stores, said JJ Zhuang, the company’s chief architect. Mr. Zhuang described the software integration as “experimenting with what’s possible” using ChatGPT on Instacart’s app. OpenAI, a San Francisco-based software startup launched in 2015, has sought to expand its reach by easing the process of integrating ChatGPT software with outside apps. Microsoft Corp. , an OpenAI investor, last month added ChatGPT technology to its Bing search engine. Mr. Brockman said it is important for companies to consider the stakes involved in the way they plan to use ChatGPT technology.

☆ In the Whirl of ChatGPT, Startups See an Opening for Their AI Chips
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Generative AI and large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT require massive amounts of computing power to run, and typically rely on chips like Nvidia’s graphics-processing units, or GPUs, that are specialized for these types of calculations. Graphcore sells primarily to AI startups looking to build and train models at lower cost, he said, and the company is benefiting from the proliferation of those startups. Shane Rau, who leads International Data Corp.’s semiconductor research, said chip startups are increasingly pivoting to focus their products on supporting large language models. Still, he added, “you’re going to see a combination of real adaptation and marketing.”“There will be the pressure to say: ‘Hey, we’re already relevant, our AI chip technology’s already relevant to generative AI’,” said Mr. Rau. Some chip makers say they expect yet another surge in demand once businesses more widely adopt generative AI.

☆ Nokia changes iconic logo to signal strategy shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Supantha Mukherjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A mockup of the new Nokia logo, is seen at an unknown location, in this undated handout picture received on February 25, 2023. The new logo comprises five different shapes forming the word NOKIA. The iconic blue color of the old logo has been dropped for a range of colours depending on the use. Major technology firms have been partnering with telecom gear makers such as Nokia to sell private 5G networks and gears for automated factories to customers, mostly in the manufacturing sector. Nokia plans to review the growth path of its different businesses and consider alternatives, including divestment.

☆ Private-Equity Firms Snap Up Data Centers as Cloud Demand Soars
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Private-equity firms bought data centers in near-record numbers last year, defying a broad deal-making slowdown in a bid to capture ever-growing demand for data storage and cloud computing. Data centers are warehouse-sized facilities that lease space in networks of computer servers to customers ranging from individual businesses to giant cloud-computing providers. As the underlying infrastructure for cloud-based digital tools, data centers support everything from video streaming and online gaming to workplace and remote work enterprise software, 5G networks and Internet-of-Things systems. In December, DigitalBridge Group Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla., private-equity firm, and investment services firm IFM Investors closed an $11 billion acquisition of Dallas-based data-center operator Switch Inc. “Large private-equity investors are clearly attracted to the continued robust take-up of data-center space by large hyperscale and social-media companies,” Mr. Lynch said.

☆ We asked 4 expert tech investors how to invest in AI without getting sucked in by the hype. Here's what they told us.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Insider spoke to four tech fund managers about their ideas and approaches to the theme. This year, Open AI's ChatGPT has attracted even more hype — and much more money — as Microsoft invested $10 billion in Open AI. "Fads and themes are really common in technology," mutual fund manager Matthew Moberg told Insider. "A lot of the leading AI companies are using Cloudflare today, and we think that will increase." Michael Loukas is the CEO of TrueMark Investments, which launched its Tech, AI, and Deep Learning ETF three years ago.

☆ Generative AI Helping Boost Productivity of Some Software Developers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The technology, known as generative AI, has been pioneered by OpenAI, the lab behind the ChatGPT writing system and the Dall-E visual illustration generator. Copilot, as well as other tools from Amazon.com Inc., International Business Machines Corp. , and startups like Tabnine Inc. and Magic AI Inc., have quickly found a receptive audience among developers seeking a productivity boost. The AI model behind Copilot is trained on data from GitHub, which houses a popular open-source community where developers contribute and share code. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. And, with a tightening economy in mind, Hyland Software is holding back on spending for any new tools or technologies.

☆ Pressure Mounts on CIOs to Build More AI Apps (and Faster)
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Magesh Sarma, chief information and strategy officer for AmeriSave Mortgage Corp., said his team has been inundated with requests to build AI apps aimed at tackling various cost issues. But the AI team, which consists of 76 employees, has been one of the least affected because of its business value. Ms. Anderson has a system for evaluating the priority level of different possible machine-learning projects that come to her department via a request pipeline, she said. Photo: ERIC GAILLARD/REUTERSOne area she hasn’t been able to fully tackle is machine-learning algorithms to help with customer retention. “With AI, it’s an incremental sort of approach.”Adding to the pressure is the exploding popularity of ChatGPT and other generative AI applications.

☆ Business Technology Chiefs Question ChatGPT’s Readiness for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Angus Loten | Chris Bedi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Yet some business-technology professionals are uneasy about integrating it into the enterprise stack, citing concerns over its use of online data and security risks. But at the moment, ChatGPT “should be used with caution in an enterprise business setting,” she said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. For now, Mr. Schmidt said, generative AI capabilities should be reserved for writing corporate boilerplate—product or service announcements, or other promotional materials. For enterprise information-technology, “ChatGPT use cases might be a smaller universe than people are imagining,” he said.

☆ Uber Signs Cloud Deals With Google and Oracle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Over 95% of Uber’s IT is currently housed in those data centers, he said. Uber declined to comment on how it plans to spread its data and applications between Google and Oracle’s cloud platforms. While Uber and Google have an existing partnership, the new cloud deal brings them closer together in other areas including launching new services, said Google Cloud Chief Executive Thomas Kurian. With Oracle, Uber is planning to integrate its freight business into Oracle’s cloud-based enterprise resource planning system, as well as other database-related projects, said Oracle Cloud Executive Vice President Clay Magouyrk. Mr. Zargahi said Uber eventually expects the cloud to cost less than its data centers, and will not renew certain data center leases as it moves to the cloud.

☆ Uber, Spurred by Hardware Supply Disruptions, Moves to Multiple Cloud Providers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Over 95% of Uber’s IT is currently housed in those data centers, he said. Uber declined to comment on how it plans to spread its data and applications between Google and Oracle’s cloud platforms. PREVIEWA tipping point came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when supply-chain disruptions pushed IT hardware delivery timelines to more than 12 months, according to Mr. Zargahi. Mr. Zargahi said Uber eventually expects the cloud to cost less than its data centers, and won’t renew certain data center leases as it moves to the cloud. With Oracle, Uber also is planning to integrate its freight business into Oracle’s cloud-based enterprise resource planning system, as well as other database-related projects, said Oracle Cloud Executive Vice President Clay Magouyrk.

☆ Security Gets Blended With Corporate Networks in New Cloud Platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

As everything moves to the cloud, a new generation of cybersecurity platforms has emerged, combining corporate networks with security tools such as malware protection into a single system that tech leaders can manage centrally. Older technology can be upgraded to lay the groundwork for implementing a new platform, Mr. Franch said, but it needs to happen without disrupting the existing corporate network. PREVIEWAt Carriage Services, Mr. Franch wants to undertake a network modernization similar to one he oversaw as chief technology officer of commercial real-estate services company Cushman & Wakefield. Modernization tends to reduce complexity and increase visibility of what’s on the network, which can benefit security, according to Mr. Franch. Goya Foods Inc. CIO Suvajit Basu said the Jersey City, N.J.-based company uses cybersecurity services from about seven vendors and a total of about 12 cybersecurity tools, many purchased and implemented over time.

☆ TripActions Rebrands as Navan, Adds ChatGPT to Expense Reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

TripActions, a business-travel software startup, plans to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT capabilities across its online platform, an effort aimed at seizing market share by making expense reports easier to use. That way, the expense report is generated during the trip as expenses are incurred, Mr. Cohen said. “Generally, software in the business-to-business space is designed to serve the company,” rather than the employees, Mr. Cohen said. “Using AI helps you create the kind of software that I’m talking about,” Mr. Cohen said. PREVIEWSAP Concur has also begun using AI in its travel and expense software, which can “tap decades of expense data and experience tracking to identify hard-to-detect spend issues and anomalies,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel.

☆ IT Job Market Shrinks for First Time in Over Two Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The job market for information-technology professionals shrank in January for the first time in over two years, a sign that IT staffers are facing the same scrutiny as workers in other positions and sectors as companies slow spending. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. The McLean, Va.-based bank said those roles would be absorbed by its existing engineering teams and product managers. Still, employment in the overall technology sector hasn’t wavered, according to IT trade group CompTIA. “Not only do we need to provide capabilities to propel the business forward, but we need the best engineering tools, modern architectures and people in the right roles to respond to changing market conditions,” Ms. Caldas said.

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